1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of authenticating a user of a terminal operating a server and connected to the server through a communication network, in which a password needed for authentication is inputted as icons, rather than numerals or characters, thereby preventing leakage or theft of the password.
2. Background of the Related Art
Along with the advancements of electronic communication networks such as the Internet and mobile communications, electronic transactions are performed in a variety of areas including commercial businesses, banking, administrative affairs, communications and the like. Accordingly, a variety of authentication techniques have been developed and used for security of transactions.
In authentication techniques for electronic transactions performed through the electronic communication networks, a password may be regarded as the most common and essential element. The password may be practically a unique authentication means in an electronic transaction where face-to-face meeting between an authentication subject and an authentication object is excluded.
A password for an electronic transaction is generally configured as a numeric string, a character string, or a mixture of these strings. A user inputs the password by manipulating a keyboard or keypad of a terminal such as a computer, a mobile communication device, an automatic teller machine (ATM) or the like.
A password may be leaked through keyboard hacking or wiretapping in the process of inputting and transmitting the password by manipulating a keyboard or a keypad, and thus methods have been developed which can implement an input screen in the form of a keyboard or a keypad on a display of a terminal and input a password using a mouse or a touch screen.
However, the authentication method described above commonly uses a password based on numerals or characters, and has two problems in that the process of inputting a password is exposed to third parties in the neighborhood, and the password is inevitably leaked by a hacking program when the screen is transmitted.